Four-time champion Valencia Basket fended off debutant Hamburg Towers with a 98-80 victory at home to move into the quarterfinals.
Valencia takes care of business, 98-80, over Hamburg



Valencia pulled away in the third quarter thanks to its offensive execution as well as 16 offensive rebounds, setting up a final eight date with French League leader Boulogne Metropolitans 92. Jasiel Rivero scored 21 points to lead the way for Valencia, Bojan Dubljevic had 15 points and 9 rebounds and Martin Hermannsson chipped in 10 points and 6 assists. Valencia had six other players who scored at least 7 points. Maik Kotsar paced Hamburg with a career-high 23 points with Jaylon Brown scoring 15 points and Caleb Homesley contributing 14.
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Kotsar opened the scoring for the visitors and Xabi Lopez-Arostegui answered for Valencia. Brown scored 5 straight points and Hamburg led 2-9. Dunks by Victor Claver and Mike Tobey cut the deficit to 3 and a pair of Rivero scores knotted the game 12-12. Homesley made Hamburg’s second three-pointer and Kostar added 3 more points for a 16-20 lead. It was 19-22 after 10 minutes.
Valencia missed all four of its three-point attempts in the first quarter but drained back-to-back triples to start the second quarter to lead 25-22. Brown converted a big four-point play and Hamburg was back ahead 27-30. Valencia answered with 4 points to move back in front only to have Homesley hit a triple and Brown throw down a dunk to put the visitors up 31-35. Valencia used its big man depth with Rivero and Claver both scoring 5 points in a 13-2 run to lead 44-37. Kotsar tried to keep Hamburg close with two baskets and it was 48-41 at the intermission.
Rivero’s three-point play to open the second half made it a double-digit lead. Homesley answered with a three-pointer but Hermannsson punched back with a three-point play. Hamburg could not get defensive stops with Valencia countering every basket. Dubljevic drained a three-pointer and extended the lead to 66-52. Sam van Rossom added a three-pointer and Josep Puerto chipped in 4 points as the advantage reached 73-58 after 30 minutes.
Van Rossom’s three-pointer early in the fourth quarter extended the cushion to 77-58. Lukas Meisner hit a triple and Kotsar trimmed the deficit to 77-63. Dubljevic continued his strong game with 4 more points and the margin was 83-63. Justus Hollatz tried to give the visitors some hope with a three-pointer, but Hermannsson hit from deep and Hamburg could not string together any defensive stops.





































































































